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Times Square

Newly engaged Sonja Babic, 30, of Texas, and National Guardsman John Cebak, 27, of Kentucky, share a kiss in Times Square at midnight on New Years, Jan. 1, 2013, in New York.

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Singapore

A couple is silhouetted as fireworks explode over Singapore's financial district, marking the start of the new year Jan. 1, 2013, in Singapore.

Credit: AP Photo

Jakarta, Indonesia

Fireworks are launched over Jakarta's main business road to mark the new year Jan. 1, 2013. Jakarta's street party centered on a 4-mile thoroughfare closed to all traffic from nightfall until after midnight. Workers erected 16 large stages along the normally car-clogged, eight-lane highway through the heart of the city.

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Hong Kong

Fireworks explode at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center over Victoria Harbor in celebration of the New Year in Hong Kong Jan. 1, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo

Pyongyang, North Korea

A North Korean family in Pyongyang has their photo taken in front of fireworks as they celebrate the new year, marked on North Korean calendars as "Juche 102."

"Juche" means "self-reliance," the North Korean ideology of independence promoted by the nation's founder, Kim Il Sung. Modern-day North Korean calendars start with the year of his birth in 1912.

Credit: AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon

Tokyo

People release balloons to celebrate the new year during a countdown ceremony produced by the Prince Park Tower Tokyo hotel in Tokyo Jan. 1, 2013. Some 1,000 balloons were released in the air with the visitors' wishes.

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Sydney

Spectator boats in Sydney Harbour look on as New Year's Eve fireworks erupt over the Sydney Harbour Bridge Jan. 1, 2013. Sydney kicked off a wave of dazzling firework displays welcoming in 2013, from Dubai to Moscow and London, with long-isolated Yangon, Burma, joining the global pyrotechnics for the first time.

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Sydney

Fireworks light up the sky from the Sydney Harbour Bridge at midnight during New Year's Eve celebrations Jan. 1, 2013, in Sydney.

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Sydney

Fireworks light up the sky from the Sydney Harbour Bridge at midnight during New Year's Eve celebrations Jan. 1, 2013, in Sydney.

Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Melbourne, Australia

A fireworks display erupts in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, during 2013 New Year's celebrations.

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Taipei, Taiwan

A firework display explodes off Taiwan's tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, to usher in the new year in Taipei, Jan. 1, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo

Manila, Philippines

Fireworks light up the sky to welcome in the New Year Jan. 1, 2013, at scenic Manila Bay in Manila, Philippines.

Seoul, South Korea

Hong Kong

Lasers light up the sky above Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong Dec. 31, 2012, just a few hours ahead of a midnight countdown and fireworks display. Fireworks will light up the skies from Sydney to Moscow, London and the United States as cities welcome 2013.

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Rio de Janeiro

A man sets afloat a small-scaled boat filled with flowers on Copacabana beach as an offering for Yemanja, goddess of the sea, in Rio de Janeiro Dec. 29, 2012. On New Year's Eve, Brazilian worshipers of Yemanja celebrate the deity, offerings flowers and launching boats, large and small, into the ocean in exchange for blessings in the coming year. The belief in the goddess comes from the African Yoruban religion, brought to the Americas by West African slaves.

Credit: AP Photo

Fireworks explode over Elizabeth Tower housing the Big Ben clock to celebrate the New Year in London, Jan. 1, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

Fireworks explode over Elizabeth Tower housing the Big Ben clock to celebrate the New Year in London, Jan. 1, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

Yangon, Burma

Workers set up a stage as preparations are under way for the country's first-ever public New Year's countdown celebration, at Myoma grounds in Yangon, Burma, Dec. 31, 2012. The nation also known as Myanmar will ring in the new year with a grand fireworks display in a celebration unprecedented in the former military-ruled country.

Credit: AP Photo

Manila, Philippines

A Filipino boy looks as his mother tests a paper horn in downtown Manila, Philippines Dec. 31, 2012. Despite a ban by authorities on certain firecrackers due to injuries and death, many Filipinos still welcome the new year with fireworks in the belief that it will drive away evil spirits and bring in good luck.

Credit: AP Photo

Thomas Hayes, right, and his girlfriend Jenna Corby, second from right, both from Lyndhurst N.J., share a kiss, as Min Song, center, and her daughter Jiang Yu Zhuo, second from left, both from China, hug as they and others celebrate the new year shortly after midnight in New York's Times Square, Jan. 1, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo/Tina Fineberg

Montevideo, Uruguay

Two women are splashed with water from an office in downtown Montevideo Dec. 31, 2012. Every last work day of the year, ripped pages from calendars and buckets of water are thrown out of office windows in the financial district of the Uruguayan capital in celebration.

Credit: MIGUEL ROJO/AFP/Getty Images

Tokyo

Shinto priests bow during a ritual end-of-the-year purification ceremony to prepare for New Year's Day, at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo Dec. 31, 2012. Millions of Japanese people will visit shrines and temples across the country to celebrate New Year's Day, one of the most important holiday periods of the year there.

Credit: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images

People watch fireworks exploding over Copacabana beach during New Year celebrations at the Pavao Pavaozinho slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jan. 1, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo/Felipe Dana

Karachi, Pakistan

A Pakistani guide pulls his camel during the last sunset of 2012 at Clifton beach in Karachi.

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Sao Paulo, Brazil

Thousands of runners take part in the 88th Sao Silvestre international race along Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Dec. 31, 2012. Twenty-five thousand runners participated in the 15-kilometer traditional New Year's Eve event.

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Fireworks light the sky above the Cathedral Square in Vilnius shortly after midnight, greeting the New Year, Jan. 1, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis

Ishinomaki, Japan

Children living at a temporary housing unit eat New Year's Eve buckwheat noodles, prepared and cooked by volunteer workers in Ishinomaki, Miyag Prefecture Dec. 31, 2012. It is Japanese traditional custom to eat buckwheat noodles to wish for longevity.

Ishinomaki was seriously affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images

Ahmadabad, India

An Indian barber gives finishing touches to the hairstyle of a young boy with numbers to welcome the New Year in Ahmadabad, India, Dec. 31, 2012.

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Dakar, Senegal

This picture taken Dec. 30, 2012, in the port of Dakar shows fireworks waiting to be moved offshore to be lit on New Year's Eve. Senegal's capital will organize the "biggest fireworks" of its history, and plans to use six tons of pyrotechnical material, operated by Portuguese pyrotechnists.

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Katmandu, Nepal

A Nepalese Gurung community woman attends celebrations marking Tamu Loshar in Katmandu, Nepal, Dec. 30, 2012. Tamu Loshar is the new year of the Gurungs, an indigenous community who also call themselves "Tamu."

Credit: AP Photo

Manila, Philippines

Revelers set off firecrackers as they usher in the new year in Manila Jan. 1, 2013. Philippine officials reported more injuries from fireworks as emergency services braced for a night of thunderous and sometimes deadly merrymaking.

To stop Filipinos from setting off huge firecrackers that maim and injure, one health official, Eric Tayag, donned the splashy outfit of South Korean star Psy and danced to his YouTube hit "Gangnam Style" while preaching against the use of illegal fireworks.

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Vatican City

At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI presides over a New Year's Eve vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 31, 2012. In his homily, Benedict said it is tough to remember that goodness prevails when bad news - deaths, violence and injustice - "makes more noise than good." He said taking time to meditate in prolonged reflection and prayer can help "find healing from the inevitable wounds of daily life."

Credit: AP Photo

Newcastle, England

Celebrations get under way as the Spark drumming band passes through the city center in Newcastle, England, Dec. 31, 2012.

Credit: AP Photo/PA

Beijing

A light show illuminates the Summer Palace during a New Year countdown in Beijing Dec. 31, 2012.

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Mumbai, India

A man lights an "Old Man" effigy, which symbolizes burning the past and getting ready to start a happy new year without bad memories, in Mumbai, India, Jan. 1, 2013.

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Fireworks light up the London skyline and Big Ben just after midnight on January 1, 2013, in London, England. Thousands of people lined the banks of the River Thames near Parliament in central London to herald the start of 2013.

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Fireworks explode behind the Quadriga statue on top of the Brandenburg Gate shortly after midnight on January 1, 2013, in Berlin, Germany. Tens of thousand of revelers gathered in the city center to celebrate New Year's Eve.

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Lebanese people dressed in costumes celebrate on new year's eve in Beirut, early on January 1, 2013.

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Palestinians wave their flag as they celebrate on new year's eve in the West Bank city of Ramallah on December 31, 2012.